For the majority of the population, cognitive abilities decline with increasing age, significantly reducing quality of life. Studies indicate ongoing cognitive stimulation can mitigate this decline. They also suggest that the degree of mitigation increases with increased frequency and duration of such stimulation.
Systems and methods have been developed to test and train cognitive abilities. However, these systems make use of simple, repetitive tasks as testing and training stimuli, such as comparing the speed of two moving circles presented on a computer screen as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,174 to Breznetz. Although such tasks may be used to evaluate and train specific low-level cognitive abilities, they lack the variability, ecological validity, and entertainment value necessary to encourage and maintain long-term use and interest and without long-term use, their real-world therapeutic value is limited. Thus, there is a continuing need for endeavors that not only train low-level cognitive abilities, but do so in a way that is entertaining and relates to the real world to encourage long-term use.